The Drug Enforcement Administration is temporarily adding seven synthetic benzimidazole-opioid substances -- butonitazene, etodesnitazene, flunitazene, metodesnitazene, metonitazene, n-pyrrolidino etonitazene and protonitazene -- to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a notice released April 11. The listing takes effect April 12, and will be in effect for up to three years.

The Drug Enforcement Administration permanently placed the synthetic cannabinoids 5F-EDMB-PINACA, 5F-MDMB-PICA, FUB-AKB48, 5F-CUMYL-PINACA and FUB-144 into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, in a final rule. The substances had already been temporarily listed in Schedule I since 2019 (see 1904150027). The final order is set to take effect April 7, when it's scheduled to be published in the Federal Register.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is placing the newly approved drug Quiviviq (daridorexant) in Schedule IV of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in an interim final rule. Effective April 7, daridorexant, which was granted FDA approval in January, is subject to new registration, labeling, record-keeping, and import and export requirements. DEA is accepting comments on the rule until May 9.

The new export working group for CBP’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee hopes to make progress on launching electronic export manifest, calling it “one of our primary areas of focus.” Working group member David Corn, executive vice president for Comstock & Theakston, said the group hopes to eventually launch EEM for “all transportation modes.”

The Census Bureau issued March 15 guidance on recent changes to the Automated Export System that accommodate new export controls on cybersecurity items (see 2110200036). AES now includes license code 64 for newly created License Exception Authorized Cybersecurity Exports, which authorizes exports of certain cybersecurity items. The guidance includes information on how to use the new license code and which Export Control Classification Numbers, modes of transportation and Export Information Codes are eligible. The license exception, which the Bureau of Industry and Security announced in October along with new export controls for certain cybersecurity items, took effect March 7 (see 2201110025).

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet remotely March 31, CBP said in a notice. The meeting will be the first for the newest COAC members. Comments are due in writing by March 28.

Exporters who shipped items during the recent Automated Export System outage must file all Electronic Export Information for those shipments to receive an Internal Transaction Number, Census reminded industry in a March 1 email. The unscheduled AES outage occurred Feb. 25 and was resolved Feb. 28.

The Census Bureau Feb. 18 emailed tips on how to address the most frequent messages generated this month in the Automated Export System. Response code 515 is a fatal error for when the Export Control Classification Number wasn’t reported in the right format. The ECCN must be reported in a “NANNN format, where N is a numeric character and A is an alpha character,” the agency said. Census said the filer should verify the ECCN, correct the shipment and resubmit.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is issuing a final rule reclassifying the Stephens’ kangaroo rat (Dipodomys stephensi), a small, nocturnal mammal native to Southern California, from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The listing includes a 4(d) rule for this species that prohibits importation and exportation without a permit.

All 2022 Harmonized System updates to the Schedule B and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) (see 2111300033) are available for use in the Automated Export System effective Feb. 10, Census said in an email to industry this week. AES will accept shipments with outdated codes during a 30-day grace period beyond Feb. 10, Census said, but outdated codes will result in a fatal error after the 30-day period.